Study Cites Soaring Costs for Textbooks
Once just a weighty tome, the college textbook has evolved into a package including text, colorful supplements and computer software. But those bells and whistles -- which critics and many students call unnecessary -- are the main reason textbook prices are rising at more than twice the rate of inflation, according to a new government report.
The Government Accountability Office, in a study officially being released today, finds the average college student spends almost $900 on textbooks and supplies.
The report finds textbook prices have increased 186% since 1986, or about 6% per year. By comparison, consumer prices rose 72% over that period, and college tuition and fees rose 240%.
The GAO report says publishers are investing heavily to expand the scope of their products, offering expensive supplements such as online courseware. The report does not attempt, however, to answer whether these developments are good or bad for students.
A publishers trade group quickly criticized the GAO, saying the report used misleading data.
Publishers contend their new products aid learning and help overworked teachers instruct and evaluate.
But critics say publishers are gouging students, “bundling” their products with unnecessary add-ons and undermining the market for used textbooks with new editions -- even in subjects that evolve little if at all, such as Latin.
The report confirms “one, that textbook prices are a significant college cost; two, that textbook prices are skyrocketing; and three, that publishers’ practices contribute to the high costs of textbooks,” said Merriah Fairchild of the California Public Interest Research Group.
Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.) said he asked the GAO to study textbook prices because there was little unbiased data for policy makers on how much textbooks cost and why prices were rising.
But the Assn. of American Publishers attacked the report. The trade group agreed that development costs for new technology were a major factor in price increases but said some of the data the GAO relied upon factored in costs for school supplies such as computers and lab equipment that have nothing to do with textbooks.
Bruce Hildebrand, the trade group’s executive director for higher education, said his organization believed the average student at a four-year college spent about $600 on all books and materials. He cited figures from the College Board concluding books account for about 6% of students’ full college costs.
Hildebrand also said the report failed to consider that students learned more from improved textbooks.
“The entire focus of what publishers do is to improve student success and none of the focus that I’m hearing from critics deals with student success,” he said.
